Amaya: Well, *sniffs* this is the last chapter that was written out by me a year ago. So if you tend to enjoy my chapters, this is the last one you'll read for a while, sorry! :( If Hazuki and I can find the time and interest to finish this story we will, but don't expect anything until at least around Christmas. Don't worry though, there's still Hazuki's last chapter for next week! :D
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: We do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.
Chapter 12: Old Friends and Enemies
"You know, I don't remember you being this sullen two years ago," Carter spoke aloud. I closed my eyes, knowing the start of a rant was upon me. "What are you, twelve now? What could you possibly have to be upset about? Did someone steal your doll?"
"I'm fourteen," I responded, trying my best not to provoke him even more. He was angry, which was an emotion he rarely showed. And when it did, it was hard to tell.
I refused to tell him any more than that I was looking for a girl named Dahlia and needed his help. But he didn't ask for anything other information. He was always good about that, he kept his nose out of things until it was absolutely necessary to know.
He glanced over at me as I navigated through a particularly thick patch of bushes. I tried my best to ignore him, giving the shrubbery more attention than was needed. Unfortunately, it's pretty much impossible to ignore Carter. He'll do something incredibly bizarre just to get someone to look-
"I'm madly in love with you Kay," he said from behind me.
I whirled around to look at him and when I saw the humor in his sky blue eyes and the stupid grin spread across his face, I knew I had fallen for another one of his tricks.
"You know, you're the only one I can do that to," he commented, chattering away. "If I did that to one of the guys I'd probably get killed. It's nice to have a new victim for a change."
"You are such a pain!" I shouted at him, but when the laughter didn't leave his face I found I couldn't fight the small smile spreading across my lips. But then I heard Junior calling my name in my head again and it was wiped away as quickly as it came. I saw Carter's face fall at this and his eyes were suddenly full of concern.
"It took me six weeks just to get you to smile, Kay," he murmured. "The last time you were like this Terra-"
"Come on, we're not going to get anything done just by standing here," I interrupted, not wanting that memory to float to my mind again. "And I told you to drop the nickname."
"I'm hoping if I say it enough, it'll bring her back," he responded quietly.
"Terra?" I called out weakly, trying to stop the gushing blood coming from my stomach. I peered into the darkness of the room I was in, trying to make something out. "Terra? Where are you?" Suddenly I realized where I was. It was five years ago, I was in my small, nine-year old body again, and I was scared out of my mind.
A gunshot went off somewhere nearby, followed by a bloody scream. "TERRA!" I screeched. "TERRA! Don't do it! They'll kill you!"
Then there was laughter in the dark room, an evil laugh that made my skin crawl. "You're a foolish girl, Katherine B. Her fate was determined the day I came back. She dug her own grave, with her own foolish dreams of the future. Now die!"
Suddenly there was pain, pain flooding through my body. Terra's face flashed before my eyes, grinning with her kind eyes sparkling, telling me things that inspired me and gave me hope. But then her face turned cruel, her eyes coal black, her auburn hair grew and turned dark, an unnatural color. And I screamed her name one more time before everything went black.
"Kay," a rough hand had a hold of my arm and was shaking me. "Kay, you're having a nightmare."
I sat up with a start, looking all around me wildly before my eyes finally settle on Carter's worried ones. "It was Terra again, wasn't it?" I stared at him, my mind not working, not quite understanding what he said until a minute later.
"Yeah…" I answered softly. I stood up looking at the rising sun, trying to shake off the fear I felt. It took a few seconds before I finally worked up the nerve to ask a question that had been bugging me for years. "Carter… Do you think she's dead?"
"A tough girl like her?" he laughed to himself. "Kay, even the devil himself was afraid of her. You really think a few thugs would be able to take her down? Nah, I think she's just biding her time for something. I'm not sure what, but I trust her judgement." He looked down at me and smiled. "Hey, isn't your birthday this week?"
I blinked in surprise, Carter's randomness catching me off guard again. "Um, yeah. I think it is."
"Don't worry," he assured me. "No matter how old you get, you'll always be a brat to me."
I rolled my eyes. "Thank you so much. And no presents this year, okay? I'm not really interested in getting another pet rat," I instructed as I began walking west.
"Aww, come on. Cheddar loved you!" he teased, catching up with me.
"Yeah, I always express my love by passing diseases through biting," I said sarcastically, painfully reminding me of someone else who would say something like that.
"He did that for your own good," Carter insisted. "It was his way of warning you of the snake by your feet."
I silently thanked that creature for taking the life of my pet two years ago. Otherwise I would've had Carter on my back about animal abuse when I left the thing in the sewer where he "rescued" it.
We walked for the rest of the morning with Carter changing direction at what almost seemed randomly. But I trusted his tracking skills. He could probably find a wooly mammoth if he really wanted to. I didn't even know how he knew what to look for since I didn't know anything about this person other than her name. I was starting to suspect that he knew more than he was letting on.
We found them during late afternoon while it was raining buckets, soaking us to the bone. I could tell the tracking was over by the way Carter hadn't called me out on my drowned cat appearance. I wondered if he was worried about fighting. He was an excellent hand to hand fighter, but his alchemy skills were lacking. And to make matters worse he had to draw transmutation circles. Those few precious seconds taken to draw it could mean his death.
We watched the people in silence from behind a bunch of trees growing close together. I felt fear strike me for the second time today when my eyes settled on one of the three females standing together. The dark eyes and the purple hair… I quickly looked away, not wanting to think anymore about my dream.
I didn't recognize the red headed girl or the one who looked like… Alex? I glanced at the other group of people in the area, clearly seeing Alex standing with the Elric brothers. Was this girl her sister?
"Did you hear that, Kay?" Carter whispered from beside me. "The girl in the middle goes by Dahlia."
I gazed at Dahlia, my target… my victim. Her features were so familiar after spending a few months with Alex. Would it seem like I was killing Alex if I went after this girl? Could I live with myself if I went through with this?
"I'll put you in your place Alexa!" Dahlia shouted.
"Go right ahead," Alex responded. They ran at each other. It seemed to me like they were fighting to kill. A small, awful part of me hoped that Alex would do my job for me. But I think the guilt of standing by and doing nothing would be worse.
"What's the verdict, chief?" Carter asked. It comforted and scared me that he would back me up no matter what I chose to do.
"We need to help the side with the short blonde guy," I finally decided. "They're… friends. Their safety is more important right now." I eyed the purple haired girl warily. "Look out for her especially, Carter. She's dangerous."
"Roger."
We ran out and stood in between the two groups, facing the three girls.
"Do you always fight on impulse?"
"Katherine?"
I saw Carter out of the corner of my eye look back and survey the people we'd be helping.
"Hn. Let's see, two cute state alchemists and a cool lookin' suit of armor against the Doomsday Trio? That's a little unfair. How about a really awesome guy and a really short girl against the Doomsday Trio?"
I smirked a bit at the comment, Carter was being ridiculous as usual. The purple-haired girl sneered at Carter, not quite enjoying his sense of humor as much as I did. She finally locked her sights on me, "Well, well, well, look at what the cat dragged in. If it isn't our pathetic little Alchemy Thief, Katherine B. It's been far too long, street rat."
I looked down at the ground, ignoring her comment and focusing on keeping my cool. I could hear Al calling my name behind me, but I blocked it out after a while.
"I'm glad to see you at least remember how my powers work, stupid girl. Now I'll finally finish off what I started five years ago. Dahlia, Kasey, you will stay out of my fight with her," her commanding voice said from across the clearing.
"I have someone else to deal with," I heard Dahlia say bitterly.
Before any of them could make a move, I summoned my strength and caused a giant rock wall to rise out of the ground, standing about thirty feet tall and stretched to either side of the clearing.
"We're running," I told the group, having only decided that about a second ago.
"Who died and made you Queen?" Alex spat at me. She was more furious than I'd ever seen her before. "I still have something to settle."
"Look, just trust me. That woman with the purple hair-"
"Trust you? Katherine, you left without a word. You practically broke Al's heart, put Princess in a depression and had us worried about you for practically two months. This is practically unforgivable!"
I winced at the words she threw at me, they cut me deep. "I'm sorry, really I am. But now is not the time to fight! We have to leave." I looked to Carter for support. He nodded gravely.
"I've heard of Kasey and Dahlia's powers, they're strong," he informed them.
"So am I!" Alex shot back. She opened her mouth to say more, but Ed placed a hand on her shoulder.
"We should listen to them for now," he reasoned. It must be the end of the world if Ed is calming down Alex of all people. "We need more information on them if we want to fight them."
This conversation was taking too long. I was surprised that they hadn't attacked us yet. It frightened me even more than a head on strike.
"Fine," Alex finally conceded. She hopped up on Princess and began to leave the area with Ed, Al following them after a few seconds.
"Well, let's go!" Carter said cheerfully, grabbing my wrist. "I can't wait to speak properly to your friends about what a nuisance you are."
Amaya: I have to say, Carter is probably my favorite among all of the OC's I have created. I mean, who doesn't love a good sense of humor? ^_^ What do you guys think about him? What'd you think of the chapter? Let me know in a review! :D
